Obituaries
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 2, 2005
Duane G. Rude, retired retailer
Brookings, S.D. — Duane G. Rude, former owner of Rude's Home Furnishings, died recently at the United Retirement Center here. He was 84.
He began working at the family-owned furniture store while attending South Dakota State University in the mid-1940s, and following his graduation in 1947, he became manager of the store.
He purchased the business in 1955, and then sold it to his son, Alfred L. Rude, in 1987. Duane Rude continued to work at the store until health problems forced him to retire in 2002.
Rude's Home Furnishings was founded in 1881 by Duane Rude's grandfather, George G. Rude, and is believed to be South Dakota's oldest furniture store.
In addition to his son, Rude is survived by his wife, a daughter, a sister and two grandchildren.
Mel Adelson, industry veteran
Columbia, Md. — Industry veteran Mel Adelson has died. He retired in 1993 as senior vice president of Bartson Fabrics, but continued to direct special projects and consult for the company until a few years ago.
Prior to joining Bartson in 1990, Adelson was associated with Coulter Fabrics until it was acquired by Barrow Inds. Before that he was an executive for several years with Sealy Mattress of Maryland.
Survivors include his wife and three children.
Memorials may be made to the Greater Baltimore Unit of the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 43025, Baltimore, Md. 21236-0025.
Michael W. Lott, sales rep
Brooklyn Park, Minn. — Sales representative Michael W. Lott, who was based in the Minneapolis area and carried lines including Rose Hill, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 58.
Lott began his career as an executive trainee at Rike's, a Federated department store, in Dayton, Ohio, in 1970, and eventually became furniture buyer. He later moved to catalog retailer Fingerhut in Minneapolis, where for years he was the furniture buyer.
More recently, he went into sales as an independent rep. He kept working in the past two years despite the trials of his cancer and treatment, and attended the Tupelo, Miss., furniture market in August.
Until the week before his death, he was still sending out his trademark hand-written, one-page faxes on business topics.
Survivors include his fiancée, four daughter, two stepchildren, a sister, a niece and four grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Toys for Tots or the Salvation Army.
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